We have four lakes in Country Place (CP) that may be used by all CP residents who are current with their membership dues. The lakes are a real asset to our community and are used by our members for fishing, swimming, and to enhance the experience of walking, jogging and bicycling in the neighborhood.
This web post is concerned with fishing. Members who fish here know that it is quite good. We can catch bass, catfish, various varieties of sunfish (also known as bream or panfish), an occasional crappie, and even tilapia during the Fall months. Ten pound plus bass, twenty pound plus catfish, and four pound plus tilapia have been caught here. We stock fish every year, usually in April, and we feed the fish twice daily from early April to mid November. Feeding not only promotes growth, but also enhances the flavor of a fish.
In order to better maintain and improve our fishing, we had a fish survey done in April of this year. This process is described as follows. A boat, equipped with two electrodes, trolls around a lake in a meaningful pattern, shocking the water. This stuns a sample of fish which then floats to the surface to be counted, typed, and measured. This does not harm the fish, and they recover rather quickly after processing. This process, together with anecdotal information gleaned from conversations with CP residents who fish the lakes, gives us a pretty good idea of what is in our lakes and enables us to develop focused plans for feeding, stocking and harvesting our fish.
The CP lakes are numbered. Turning into CP onto Three Lakes Drive from FM 346, and looking to your left (East), Lake 1 is the lake above the picnic area. Lake 2 is back to your right, the small lake across Three Lakes Drive from the picnic area. Turning onto Lakeshore Drive off of Ridgetop Road, Lake 3 is the large lake at the bottom of the hill. Continuing on Lakeshore a couple hundred yards past the Lake 3 spillway, a small dirt road off to the left leads along a small creek to Lake 4, known to many as Hidden Lake.
In the following four paragraphs we look at each lake, describe the current fish population, explain our future goals for each lake, and recommend how the CP fisherpersons can assist in attaining these goals. We often recommend below to â€œharvestâ€ a fish. Depending on the type and size of the fish, it can imply a number of different actions. However, it always means the following: donâ€™t put the fish back in the same lake you took it out of, and if you or someone else wants to eat it, thatâ€™s great. If it is not to be consumed and if it is small and we do not explicitly recommend releasing it into another lake, then if your sensibilities allow it, we recommend disposing of it in a humane way. This may seem harsh, but the other fish will appreciate it.
Lake 1 (2.4 acres)
All species are present in Lake 1: bass, catfish, various sunfish, some crappie, and tilapia. The ratio of predator fish (bass and catfish) to forage fish (sunfish) is too high, indicated by the extremely high number of very small bass. The fish survey yielded 28 bass, with the largest being only 12â€ in length. If brought into better balance, this lake should be capable of supporting all species. We recommend harvesting all bass under 12â€ and all catfish over 25â€. If you have no takers for the large catfish, call either Wayne Tiller or Jerry Jones.

Lake 2 (2 acres)
This lake also has all species present, and like Lake 1, it has a predator crowded problem. However, we would like to focus this lake exclusively on coppernose bluegill. This is a species of sunfish which grows large, fights well, and has an exquisite flavor. This is the ideal fish to introduce kids to fishing. We intend to draw down the entire fish population in this lake over the next year. All fish should be harvested. All sunfish not to be eaten should be released into either Lake 1 or 3. All bass under 12â€ should be eaten or otherwise humanely disposed of. Bass over 12â€ can be put into Lake 3. Catfish under 20â€ can be released into Lake 1; if over 20â€ and there are no takers for consumption, call Wayne Tiller or Jerry Jones. Release crappie into Lake 1. At some point, maybe next year, we will begin stocking coppernose and shut down fishing in Lake 2 until they are well established.

Lake 3 (7.2 acres)
The fish survey indicated the presence of all species except crappie, and the predator/prey relationship appears to be in good balance. We will continue to maintain Lake 3 as a good, all-around lake. However, as many of you know, this lake is particularly good for bass fishing, and we will endeavor to improve it. We will stock other varieties as needed. All catfish over 25â€ should be harvested (call Wayne Tiller or Jerry Jones if needed). We recommend taking and eating some bass in the 10â€-15â€ size class, however, if consumption is not desired, then the fish should be released back into the lake.

Lake 4 (0.85 acres)
Although small, this lake is in good balance and contains all species except crappie. This is an excellent lake for catfish and sunfish. The fish survey also yielded twenty bass with nine of them over 14â€; the largest weighed 6 pounds. We recommend harvesting all catfish over 25â€ and some bass under 12â€.

Finally, we emphasize that only CP residents and their guests may fish our lakes, and guests must be accompanied by the resident. Open invitations to fish without an accompanying resident are not allowed. We encourage residents who observe someone who they believe may not have permission to fish here to take note of their vehicle and license plate number and call Wayne Tiller, Jerry Jones, or anyone on the CP Board.